K-8 School Quality, Choice & Access in Philadelphia presented by the PHILADELPHIA SCHOOL PARTNERSHIP

January 13, 2021

1 INTRODUCTION

3 Almost half of K-8 4 There are more than Purpose students attend schools 29,000 unfilled seats in This report shows trends in student achievement, academic growth of choice. low-achieving schools. ➽ In this report, a “school of choice” ➽ Over half of these unfilled seats are and enrollment for public schools across the city of Philadelphia. means any public school a student located in schools in North Philadelphia. Most of the analyses in the report are broken down by 13 regions selects that is not his or her assigned neighborhood school. If private schools throughout the city—the same regions the School District uses for its were included, more than half of K-8 students attend schools of choice. At Comprehensive School Planning Review (CSPR). the high school level, 86 percent of all The purpose is to support families, communities, school leaders and students attend schools of choice. policy makers as they consider: ➽ Students are more likely to opt out of their neighborhood school if the school ➽ schools for their children is low-achieving. ➽ school admissions and enrollment policies ➽ Students in North and Northeast Philadelphia are more likely to attend District: ➽ expansions, renovations or closures of school buildings their neighborhood school, while Non-Neighborhood students in West, South and Southwest ● Philadelphia are less likely to attend their neighborhood school.

➽ Over half of high-achieving schools are Key Findings special admission or charter schools and do not have a catchment boundary.

1 Six of every 10 2 Encouragingly, most 15.7% Philadelphia students of the city’s low- ● Neighborhood School attend a low- achieving schools 52.4% achieving school. are demonstrating ➽ Black and Hispanic students are consistent academic 48% of overrepresented in the City’s 28.4% lowest-achieving schools, and Elementary White and Asian American students growth. are overrepresented in the highest- ➽ There are 80 schools with low Students achieving schools. achievement and high acacemic growth; seven of these schools Choose a School ➽ The highest-achieving schools ● improved by 10 or more percentage are predominantly located in Other Than points on state achievement tests Not in Central Philadelphia, Northeast over the past five years. Philadelphia Philadelphia and South Their Assigned 3.5% Philadelphia. The lowest-achieving ● schools are predominantly Neighborhood Charter: located in Northwest Philadelphia, School Non-Neighborhood Southwest Philadelphia and Olney/North Philadelphia.

2 3 CONTENTS MAP 1

SECTION 1 looks at enrollment in high-achieving schools. The primary data source is schoolwide results on 2019 state math and reading tests that were given to all students in grades 3 through 8 8. (Tests were not administered in 2020 because of the pandemic.)

SECTION 2 looks at school academic growth. The primary data source is the same, but instead of measuring how high students scored, growth shows to what degree students in a school made more academic progress from one year to the next than the average student in the state.

SECTION 3 looks at school choice patterns. While politicians often talk about “choice” for 11 13 particular types of schools, such as public charter or private schools, there are many ways for families to choose schools. Since this report focuses only on public schools (district and charter), choice here refers to students enrolling in any public school other than their assigned neighborhood (catchment) school 9 where they live. For some, this means choosing a neighborhood school that is not in their assigned school 5 attendance boundary. For others, this means a citywide, special admission or charter school. 12 2 SECTION 4 looks at schools’ availability of seats in comparison to enrollment. How many 3 students can a school hold, and how many of those seats are actually filled? 5

6 7 Median Family Income • $2,499.00 – $42,485.00 1 • $42,485.01 – $71,633.00 PHILADELPHIA K-8 ENROLLMENT (2019) • $71,633.01 – $109,271.00 • $109,271.01 – $161,438.00 10 • $161,438.01 – $250,001.00 By School Type By Race/Ethnicity 4

Public School Type Enrollment 60% 40% 20% 0%

District Neighborhood 85,567 Asian 7% American District Special Admit 2,283 52% Black District NEIGHBORHOODS/REGIONS Citywide 1,486

Renaissance 21% Hispanic These regions align with the School District of Philadelphia’s Comprehensive School Planning Review Charter 12,620 (CSPR) regions. The regions are identified by a number, with the names of a few included neighborhoods Charter also listed to help with identification. Citywide 36,182 14% White 1. Point Breeze/Queen Village (South Philadelphia) 8. Fox Chase/Northeast Philadelphia Not In Philadelphia/ Cyber Charters 5,114 Multiracial/ 2. Fairhill (North Philadelphia) 9. Frankford/Oxford Circle (Northeast Philadelphia) 6% Other 3. Overbrook/Wynnefield (West Philadelphia) 10. Southwest Philadelphia Total K-8 Enrollment 143,252 4. Grays Ferry/South Philadelphia 11. Northwest Philadelphia 5. Kensington 12. Olney/North Philadelphia 6. Belmont/University City (West Philadelphia) 13. Mayfair/Tacony (Northeast Philadelphia) © Philadelphia School Partnership. This report would not have been possible without the support of Heather Cope. Heather took our sporadic thoughts and incomplete ideas and turned them into a linear and coherent report. Additional gratitude to Jamie Leary for his graphic design work and Taylor Harrington at 7. Central Philadelphia PolicyMap for her mapping expertise. Lastly, we thank the subject matter experts who contributed their time to reviewing our work and providing critical feedback.

4 5 PREFACE

Why This Data?

When considering school quality, there are many factors to consider: safety, technology, teacher quality, social and emotional learning, special education and extracurricular activities, to name just a few. Howev- er, when comparing schools, a challenge is that easily comparable data for many of these attributes does not exist on a school by school basis. The state achievement tests, which are conducted at every school, do allow for comparisons between schools: on how well students achieve and to what degree students grow academically from one year to the next. State achievement data also align to what families value in a school. In 2013 the Fordham Institute surveyed 2,000 parents nationwide for a report entitled, “What Parents Want.” Far and away the No. 1 priority parents wanted in a school was “strong core curriculum in reading and mathematics.” This was true for every group, whether broken down by race, income or other factors. Other surveys suggest that some families consider location, a safe environment, or extracurricular activities as crucial. Even in these surveys, however, academic quality is one of the top priorities for the majority of parents. Why This Report? Many families likely would prefer a great school right across the street from their home. But for most, perceived quality in reading and math outranks location in importance, as the surveys and Section 3 of The pandemic has put a spotlight on layers of inequity that stifle neighborhoods in Philadelphia and this report make clear. other American cities. As one example, forced school closures have highlighted the inequities of the “digital divide.” Census data have shown that the percentage of households with internet access varies widely by neighborhood, from above 80 percent in many places to below 50 per- cent in North and West Philadelphia. Similarly, access to high-achieving Why Must Readers Take Care? schools also varies widely in Philadelphia, by region, class and race. There The aim is to help families are many reasons. One is the longstanding practice of assigning students There is no one best kind of school. Every student has different needs. There are higher and lower achiev- to schools based on where they live, which has disproportionately affected ing students in every school. No school can be fully represented by a dot on a map. No piece or set of data and communities in the certain families, particularly those in low-income communities. can tell a complete story. Families have to gather as much information as they can, and make decisions or city understand and Now, as city and school leaders prepare to adapt to new limits and chal- recommendations they decide are the best for them. lenges, there is an opportunity to rethink the old limitations. Recently, This report is intended to add to the data sources which already exist, in the hope that readers can gain discuss how well public the School District of Philadelphia launched an equity coalition, with a fuller understanding. plans to address a number of inequitable practices in city schools, includ- The maps and tables included here report only on schools serving kindergarten through 8th grade, be- schools and enrollment ing selective admissions policies. Last year the District embarked on a cause the underlying data sources are consistent. Were high schools to be included, because their students citywide planning process to help design schools and policies that meet take different assessments than younger students, comparisons between schools would be harder to make. policies are serving them the educational needs of changing student populations. That process, named the Comprehensive School Planning Review (CSPR), revolves and their neighbors. around both community engagement and data. This report aims to help families and communities in the city under- stand how well public schools and enrollment policies are serving them and their neighbors. The school achievement, growth and enrollment data included here, broken down by region, family income and race, can be a resource for policy makers and participants in the CSPR and the District’s equity coalition.

The data displayed in these pages (and at www.philaschoolpartnership.org/schoolquality) consist of assessments of student achievement, student academic growth and student enrollment on a school-by-school basis. All of the data come from the Pennsylvania Department of Education, the School District of Philadelphia or the U.S. Census. All public schools in Philadelphia serving grades kindergarten through 8, including neighborhood (catchment), charter, citywide and special admission schools, are represented. Maps and tables show where high- and low-achieving schools are located, where high- and low-growth schools are located, and where families are enrolling their children, whether that be in schools close to home or farther away. Enrollment in schools by achievement level is also broken down by income and race/ethnicity.

6 7 SECTION 1: ENROLLMENT IN HIGH-ACHIEVING SCHOOLS

MAP 2

A Majority of City Students Attend a Low-Achieving School

In Philadelphia, 57 percent of kindergarten through 8th grade students attend a school in the Low achievement tier. Just 19,061 students out of more than 140,000 total attend a high-achieving What is the PSSA? school, or less than 14 percent. Enrollment in low-achieving and high-achieving schools varies The Pennsylvania System of significantly by region within the city (Map 2 and Fig. 1). Almost School Assessment (PSSA) 88 is the state test for English no students living in Fox Chase/Northeast attend low-achieving Language Arts, Math, and schools, for example. Conversely, in four regions—Fairhill, Over- Science. The PSSA measures brook, Kensington and Southwest—there are no students attending students’ mastery of state high-achieving schools in their neighborhoods. standards, or what students should know and be able to do at each grade level. 1111 1313 Students in grades 3 through 8 take the English Language School Tiers — Achievement Arts and Math PSSA. Students in grades 4 and 8 also take the Science PSSA. 99 For this report, schools are organized into three Achievement tiers based on the percent of students who were Proficient PSSA results are organized 55 or Advanced on the PSSA in math and reading in the three into four performance 1212 school years between 2016-17 and 2018-19. Each school’s levels: Below Basic, Basic, 22 tier placement was determined by comparing Proficient/ Proficient, and Advanced. Advanced percentages for the grade levels in the school to the Proficient and Advanced are 33 percentages for those grade levels in all Philadelphia schools considered on grade level. 55 and all schools in Pennsylvania.

66 77

HIGH LOW AVERAGE ACHIEVING ACHIEVING Schools with Schools with Proficient/ Schools with 11 Proficient/ Advanced Proficient/ Advanced achievement at or Advanced PSSA Performance achievement at or above the average achievement above the average achievement below the average 1010 High Achieving achievement for for Philadelphia achievement Average all schools in schools with for Philadelphia 44 Low Achieving Pennsylvania with the same grade schools with the the same grade levels, but below same grade levels levels the average for all schools in Pennsylvania with the same grade levels

8 9 SECTION 1: ENROLLMENT IN HIGH-ACHIEVING SCHOOLS

Schools with wealthier student populations are overrepresented in both the High and Average achieve- FIG. 1: COUNT OF STUDENTS ATTENDING SCHOOLS IN EACH ment tiers (Fig. 2). Conversely, no schools serving more than 85 percent economically disadvantaged stu- ACHIEVEMENT TIER, BY CSPR STUDY ZONE dents are high-achieving. ➽ 90% of students attending a high-achieving school are enrolled in the least economically disadvantaged schools

FIG. 3: BLACK AND HISPANIC STUDENTS ARE CONCENTRATED IN LOW-ACHIEVING SCHOOLS

Student Count

FIG. 2: SCHOOLS WITH WEALTHIER STUDENT POPULATIONS ARE Student Count OVERREPRESENTED IN THE TOP TWO ACHIEVEMENT LEVELS

Both Black and Hispanic students are overrepresented in low-achieving schools and underrepresented in high-achieving schools. In fact, less than 10 percent of Black and Hispanic students are enrolled in schools in the High achievement tier. Three quarters of Black students are enrolled in low-achieving schools; this represents 37 percent of all students in city public schools. White and Asian students, on the other hand, are overrepresented in the High achievement tier:

➽ 45% of all White students are enrolled in high-achieving schools

➽ There are 4 times as many White students as Hispanic students in high-achieving schools

➽ There almost 3 times as many White students as Black students in Student Count high-achieving schools School Level Economically Disadvantaged

1 0 1 1 SECTION 2: ACADEMIC GROWTH

MAP 3

An Encouraging Number of Low-Achieving Schools Are Demonstrating High Academic Growth

The majority of public schools in the city have exceeded the standard for academic growth in Pennsylvania over the past three What is PVAAS? years. Many schools in both the High and Low achievement tiers are demonstrating high growth. As Map 3 at right shows, even regions The Pennsylvania Value- that were almost entirely red on the Achievement map (Map 2) are Added Assessment System 88 mostly green for academic growth. (PVAAS) is not a test. PVAAS In fact, in every region except Northwest Philadelphia (Region is a type of analysis that uses PSSA test results to 11), high-growth schools account for half or more of all students predict and measure student enrolled within the region. In South Philadelphia (Regions 1 & 4), academic growth from 90 percent of enrolled students attend high-growth schools. one year to the next and In North Philadelphia, where high-achieving schools are hard to is intended to isolate the 1111 1313 find, almost two thirds of school enrollment is in schools demon- “value added” by a school strating high growth. In other words, many students attending no matter where students started. schools in North Philadelphia attend high-growth, low-achieve- ment schools. PVAAS results show if students in a school made 99 more or less progress in a 55 year than the standard for Pennsylvania. Each school 1212 School Tiers — Growth receives an Average Growth 22 Index (AGI) for grades 4 3 For this report, schools are organized into three Growth tiers through 8, which reflects 3 55 based on the PVAAS Average Growth Index (AGI). This means how much evidence there is their students are progressing more than would be expected, for whether or not students based on statewide trends exceeded the growth standard for Pennsylvania. The further a number is 66 77 from zero, the greater the evidence that students ABOVE AT BELOW did or did not exceed the STATE STATE STATE standard for Pennsylvania. 11 Schools with an Schools with an Schools with an Schools are organized into AGI greater than AGI between -2 AGI less than -2, +2, indicating and +2, indicating indicating there categories for PVAAS based there is significant there is evidence is significant on the AGI. An AGI below 1010 Growth Tiers evidence the the schools met evidence the zero indicates students 44 schools exceeded the standard schools did not made less progress than the Above State the standard of growth for meet the standard standard for Pennsylvania. At State of growth for Pennsylvania of growth for Below State Pennsylvania Pennsylvania An AGI above zero indicates students made more progress than the standard for Pennsylvania. Since a school’s PVAAS may bounce around from year to year, the measures at left are based on the last three years of student growth.

1 2 1 3 SECTION 2: ACADEMIC GROWTH

High growth shows up evenly across schools with different levels of family income. The same is mostly true for schools in the Average and Low growth tiers (Fig. 4). FIG. 5: MOST STUDENTS ATTEND HIGH-GROWTH SCHOOLS

FIG. 4: ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SCHOOLS ARE EVENLY REPRESENTED AMONG HIGH-GROWTH SCHOOLS

Student Count

Student Count

Academic growth data is sometimes criticized for giving low-achieving schools a sheen of success they School Level Economically Disadvantaged may not fully deserve. Because the model used to determine academic growth predicts a student’s future growth on the basis of past test scores, this theory argues that growth targets for low-achieving schools end up being too low—and therefore easy to surpass. There is some evidence to support this theory in Philadelphia. There are schools that have high growth scores in most years but are not seeing meaningful gains in reading and math achievement. Similarly, the race/ethnicity profile of schools with high academic growth mirrors the racial diversity On the other hand, achievement data by itself also can paint a misleading view of school quality. PSSA of public schools overall (Fig. 5). There is still cause for concern, however, as Black students are overrep- scores by themselves do not take into account where students started, or how much schools helped them resented in schools showing Low and Average growth. learn from one year to the next. PSSA scores also tend to mirror the income level of a school’s student body. For this reason, most states and school districts increasingly focus their energies on analyzing achievement and growth data together.

1 4 1 5 SECTION 2: ACADEMIC GROWTH

Overall, student achievement results at Philadelphia schools with consistently high growth have risen Across the city, there are 80 schools in the Low tier for Achievement but the High tier for Growth. Seven over the past five years, while achievement scores at schools with low and average growth have remained flat. of these schools improved by 10 or more percentage points on their combined math/reading PSSA results from 2015 to 2019 (Fig. 6).

➽ High-growth schools have seen an average increase in PSSA achievement of 4.5 percentage points over the last five years ➽ Southwark School and John F. Hartranft School are the leading examples of high-growth schools with low—but rising—achievement; student proficiency there has increased by more than 12 percentage points

FIG. 6: HIGH-GROWTH SCHOOLS SHOW RISING ACHIEVEMENT ➽ 39% of Black students are enrolled in low-achieving, high-growth schools

PSSA Combined Math/Reading Proficiency (Grades 3-8) A smaller but highly concerning group of schools are those demonstrating both low achievement and low growth. Collectively, these schools have seen a decline in overall achievement since 2015. While only ■ Below State Growth ■ At State Growth ■ Above State Growth numbering 17, these schools are concentrated in certain regions. Over half are in Northwest Philadelphia and Olney/North Philadelphia (regions 11 & 12).

➽ Almost 12% of Black students in Philadelphia are enrolled in low-achievement, low-growth schools

FIG. 7: COUNT OF LOW-ACHIEVING, LOW-GROWTH SCHOOLS BY ZONE

TOTAL TOTAL

NUMBER OF NUMBER OF REGION REGION SCHOOLS SCHOOLS G G G G

Point Breeze (1) 0 Fox Chase (8) 0

Fairhill (2) 0 Frankford (9) 1

Overbook (3) 1 Southwest (10) 2 Percent Proficient Combined in Math/Reading Grays Ferry (4) 0 Northwest (11) 5

High-Growth Schools Showing Big Gains in Achievement 2015 2019 Change Kensington (5) 1 Olney (12) 5

Belmont (6) 1 Mayfair (13) 1 John F. Hartranft School 7.4% 23.4% 16.0%

Southwark School 18.5% 30.7% 12.2% Central (7) 0

F. Amedee Bregy School 11.6% 23.6% 12.0%

Philadelphia Virtual Academy 3.6% 14.8% 11.2%

Mastery Charter School at Gratz 12.4% 23.0% 10.6%

Morton McMichael School 6.0% 16.2% 10.2%

Richard R. Wright School 6.5% 16.4% 9.9%

1 6 1 7 SECTION 3: SCHOOL CHOICE PATTERNS

MAP 4

School Achievement Has a Big Influence on Where Students Enroll School academic performance is one factor families consider when choosing a school for their child. Families are more likely to use Achievement results, rather than Growth data, when making What is a catchment? school decisions. This pattern shows up in data indicating whether students are enrolling in their assigned neighborhood schools or A catchment refers to a choosing other options. designated geographic Map 4, on the facing page, shows that regions with concentra- boundary area for a 88 tions of high-achieving neighborhood schools, such as in Northeast school. In Philadelphia, Philadelphia, tend to see more students enrolled in their assigned every home address falls within the boundary area, catchment schools. or catchment, of a district The pattern is not entirely consistent. Region 4 (South Phila- neighborhood school delphia), for example, has a higher share of students not enrolled or Renaissance charter in their neighborhood schools than North Philadelphia regions 2 school. Children living in a 1111 1313 and 12, which have almost zero high-achieving schools. Access to school’s catchment receive preference for attending relatively higher-achieving, non-neighborhood schools may be a that school. Families in factor. These include charter schools and higher-performing neigh- Philadelphia may also borhood schools which are manageably close and can accommodate choose to apply to send out-of-catchment transfers. their child to a school 99 other than their catchment 55 school. If a child attends a school other than their 1212 catchment school, the child 22 FIG. 8: SCHOOLS WITH HIGH ACHIEVEMENT is considered attending an 33 HAVE HIGHER IN-CATCHMENT ENROLLMENT “out-of-catchment” school. 5 Out-of-catchment schools 5 can include district special Living in Living in admission and citywide Catchment Catchment schools, district alternative 66 Percent of Students and Attending and schools, other district Enrolled Out of 77 Catchment Achievement Assigned Attending neighborhood schools, Tier of Assigned Catchment Another charter schools, and schools 26%–33% Catchment School School School outside of the city. 34%–41% 11 42%–49% High Achieving 72% 28% 50%–58% 59%–67%

Average 64% 36% 1010 44 Low Achieving 46% 54% PSSA Performance High Achieving Average Low Achieving

1 8 1 9 SECTION 3: SCHOOL CHOICE PATTERNS

The School District publishes catchment enrollment data from two different perspectives. Fig. 8 breaks Just under 40 percent of students—only 7,100—who attend high-achieving schools are there because it down enrollment based on where students live. Students assigned to a high-achieving catchment school is their assigned neighborhood school. Many of the schools in the city’s High achievement tier are choice are more likely to attend that school. schools by design—admitting students through a citywide lottery or selective admissions process rather than by neighborhood assignment (Fig. 10). This is true also at the high school level. ➽ 72% of students living in high-achieving catchments attend their There is a higher share of Black, Hispanic and economically disadvantaged students in high-achieving catchment school charter schools than in high-achieving catchment schools. For Black students, the same is true for spe- ➽ The majority of students living in low-achieving catchments opt out cial-admission schools. of attending that school

➽ 33% of students in high-achieving charter and special-admission schools Fig. 9 breaks down enrollment by where students choose to go to school. Students are more likely to are Black or Hispanic, vs. 25% in high-achieving catchment schools attend a non-catchment school if it is in a higher Achievement tier than their assigned neighborhood school.

➽ The percentage of students in a school who are not geographically When options are available to them, families tend to choose higher-achieving schools. This is true even assigned to it rises as the school’s Achievement rating goes up within the Low achievement tier. There is ample evidence of families selecting a school rated Low that has higher PSSA scores than their own, low-achieving neighborhood school. FIG. 9: 60% OF STUDENTS ATTENDING HIGH-ACHIEVEMENT SCHOOLS DO NOT ATTEND THEIR ASSIGNED NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOL FIG. 11: PERCENT OF STUDENTS IN HIGH-ACHIEVING SCHOOLS

Achievement Tier of Students Attending Students Attending Attending School Their Catchment School a School of Choice ENROLLED IN ENROLLED OUTSIDE OF REGION TOTAL CATCHMENT SCHOOL CATCHMENT SCHOOL G G G G High Achieving 40% 60% Citywide (All Regions) 13.77% 5.47% 8.30% Average 50% 50% Point Breeze (1) 34.59% 14.12% 20.48%

Fairhill (2) 0.60% 0.00% 0.60% Low Achieving 57% 43% Overbook (3) 2.88% 0.00% 2.88%

Grays Ferry (4) 40.13% 7.32% 32.80%

Kensington (5) 3.63% 0.00% 3.63% FIG. 10: STUDENTS ATTENDING HIGH-ACHIEVEMENT SCHOOLS Belmont (6) 12.27% 8.53% 3.74%

Central (7) 37.54% 27.70% 9.83%

Fox Chase (8) 34.72% 23.84% 10.88%

Frankford (9) 5.24% 0.00% 5.24% Special Admission Southwest (10) 3.27% 0.00% 3.27% District Citywide Northwest (11) 8.64% 0.00% 8.64% ● 8% Charter ● 46% Olney (12) 1.74% 0.00% 1.74% ● 6% 14.51% 0.00% 14.51% Neighborhood Mayfair (13) District 40% ● (Out of Neighborhood Catchment) District (In Catchment)

2 0 2 1 SECTION 4: AVAILABILITY OF SEATS

MAP 5 Seats at High-Achieving Schools Are in Short Supply

Where families enroll their children can also be influenced by the number of seats available in schools. Some schools may have more seats available than there are students in the catchment, allowing for higher out-of-catchment enrollment, while other schools may have fewer—or no—seats available. In recent years, the District has had to hold lotteries for kindergarten seats among families within certain highly desirable catchments, including Meredith and Penn Alexander. With the majority of city schools falling in the Low achievement tier, there are effectively no available seats in High or even Average tier schools (Fig. 12). In fact, high-achieving schools are over-enrolled by 8 percent relative to their official capacity. 88

➽ In contrast, there are 29,000 unfilled seats in schools rated low-achieving

Across all of the city’s catchment schools, 78 percent of seats are filled. If only in-catchment students were enrolled, this figure would be 59 percent. At the same time, K-8 non-catchment schools—including charters and a smaller number of district special-admission or citywide schools—have waiting lists that 1111 1313 collectively represent more than 18,000 students. As Map 5 shows, unfilled seats in schools of any type are hard to find in the Northeast. Unfilled seats in low-achieving catchment schools are plentiful elsewhere, especially in North Philadelphia. 99 55 FIG. 12: ONLY LOW-ACHIEVING SCHOOLS HAVE UNFILLED SEATS 12 12 22

Achievement Level of Total Number Seats Filled by In- Total Seats Open 33 Catchment School of Seats Catchment Students Filled Seats 55

High Achieving 8,187 92.9% 108.2% 0

66 Percent of Average 26,672 81.0% 101.1% 0 77 Unfilled Seats 1%–3% Low Achieving 90,428 49.3% 67.8% 29,107 4%–9% 11 10%–24% 25%–32% 33%–35% 1010 Questions to Consider 44 PSSA Performance In conclusion, Philadelphia has too few high-achieving schools, and the shortage is especially critical in High Achieving Average North, West and Southwest Philadelphia. And, while many low-achieving schools demonstrate academic Low Achieving growth, in most instances the growth is not translating into meaningful achievement gains. What can be learned from the schools that are rising in achievement, and how can progress be accelerated in other schools across the city? How can schools better respond to the specific needs of communities? Can more seats be created at high-achieving schools, and can schools implement more equitable enrollment policies?

2 2 2 3 150 S. Independence Mall West, Suite 1200 Philadelphia, PA 19106 philaschoolpartnership.org